The Bible Story Family

  Chaplain Stephen Huebscher has written a book on Hebrew Verb Form Semantics in Zechariah which will be published by Brill this fall. The book is titled Prose and Poetry through Time. “This is the first major study of the Biblical Hebrew verbal system of a prophetic book. It is also the first book-length study in over 60 years to focus on how genre affects the Hebrew verbal system,” according to the publisher. When asked why he chose this topic, Stephen replied, “I like to get to the bottom of anything I study so I don’t get surprised later on by having made a wrong turn.” Chaplains are encouraged to produce scholarly works, but studies like this need to be done on their own time. “That’s a challenge,” says Huebscher, “working on evenings, weekends, and taking vacation time.” He estimates that about seven years have gone into the research. This book will be useful to those in ministry because it deals with the significance and meaning of every verb in Zechariah. “Also, if so...

Carmen and I had the privilege of presenting a program to the Golden Agers at Fourth Baptist Church of Plymouth on Poetry and Music. Some of my favorite poems were combined with arrangements of her favorite hymns, blended together in one nostalgic package. I chose old favorites like “Casey At the Bat,” by Earnest Thayer, and “In School Days,” by John Greenleaf Whittier. She started with Fanny Crosby’s “Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It,” and Russell Carter’s “Standing on the Promises.” As the poems and songs were shared, people were able to see lyrics from the hymns and pictures of the authors on power point. One of the highlights was James Weldon Johnson’s “The Creation,” followed by “In the Garden,” by Charles Miles. The program concluded with the universal favorite, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” by Mira Brooks Welch. Poetry and Music is available for presentation in other churches as well. It would be perfect for a banquet or anniversary celebration, or a gathering like ...

  Ministering in a state where only ten percent of the landmass can be reached by road seems like an impossible task. And it would be if not for flight. Fifteen percent of Alaska’s total population live in areas accessible only by airplane. It is to these villagers who need the gospel that God has called the Houtz family. Aaron’s burden for aviation ministry began when he was in high school. He planned to pursue that career in Papua, New Guinea, until meeting Mike and Jeannette Clark, missionaries to rural Alaska. During a six week internship with Baptist Mid-Missions, he was asked by a Yupik Alaskan native, “Are you the preacher I have been praying for?” That was when he knew God was calling him and his family to do some creative flying in Alaska. Aaron and Rachel Houtz were both home-schooled and then attended Bob Jones University. Their sending church is Mount Calvary Baptist of Greenville, South Carolina. The Clarks have been in Alaska for eighteen years and are located in ...

  The badlands near Glendive, Montana, feature one of North America’s premier sights for fossils and dinosaur bones. Many of these are on display at the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum. Founded in 2009, the museum endeavors to share a biblical worldview with visitors. On our visit we were thrilled to experience interaction with tyrannosaurus, stegosaurus, and triceratops bones as well as skeletal recreations based on fossil discoveries. Throughout the entire museum we were challenged to think critically about issues related to origins. Answers were provided which proved the existence of a creator God. The museum sponsors fossil digs in the badlands of Montana where you can experience paleontology first-hand. Guided digs teach you how to identify, collect, and interpret fossils from a biblical perspective.   Although we did not have time to join a dig, it is definitely on our bucket list for some time in the future. When traveling through northeast Montana, be sure to...

On account of a life-long interest in Evangelist Billy Sunday, I was pleased to be asked for resource materials for a senior paper on Ma Sunday. Johanna Huebscher graduated from Bob Jones University this spring with a B.A. in history and a B.S. in Multimedia Journalism. The research into the life of Mrs. Sunday was part of a graduation requirement for her history degree. Billy Sunday died in 1935. His wife outlived him by several years, and during that time she became involved in the work of Bob Jones University. “I chose her as a research project,” writes Johanna, “because I wanted to study the life of a woman involved in the beginnings of BJU.” The research paper is titled “Ma Sunday, What Did It Mean to be Her?” Johanna draws some comparisons between the parental choices made by Nell Sunday, Mary Gaston Jones, and Ruth Graham. Each of the husbands, Billy Sunday, Bob Jones, Sr., and Billy Graham, traveled in evangelism, but the decisions concerning child-care varied. One of the s...

 I met James Matteson at the recent New Testament Association meeting. But I immediately felt as if I had known him for a long time. His father, Dr. Earle Matteson, and my father, Dr. Arthur Allen, were fellow pastors and great friends out west. And I came to know his father Earle when I was teaching at Pillsbury Baptist Bible College and Dr. Matteson served as interim president. James has a podcast called the Bible Bard. But it is not just any podcast. The Bible Bard is available not only in English, but also in Spanish, Swahili, Urdu, Bengali, and Chechewa. The programs can be accessed on Spotify, Soundcloud, and Amazon podcasts as well as the website www.BibleBard.org. “The Bible Bard podcast presents only what the literature of the Bible directly says about a subject,” writes James. “Whether you are a Muslim listener, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Presbyterian, an Anglican, or an atheist, the Bible Bard is not interested in discussing what any Christian denomination or religious teach...

  True story! A thirteen-year-old girl desperately wanted a horse. When that wasn’t possible, she wrote a book, Appaloosy . The story was written from the viewpoint of a horse involved in the Nez Perce Indian War. The book was published when she was sixteen and became the first in a series of five Horses in History volumes. Appaloosy (The Nez Perce Indian Wars) Dusty’s Trail (The Pony Express) Golden Sunrise (The Battle of the Alamo) Day and Night (The Civil War) Blue Skies West (The Oregon Trail)   The girl was Mattie Richardson. She says, “I started writing books I wanted to read but couldn’t find.” The books are targeted for children 8-12, but have been enjoyed by plenty of younger and older folks as well. Mattie works as library director in Enderlin, North Dakota. Early in her writing career she traveled the country selling books at various events and festivals, speaking at schools, libraries, and other organizations. Getting married and adding two ch...